Ski

ABSTRACT

A ski of the kind in which a single ski body member formed with a gliding surface is provided with two ski bindings fixed to said body member in side by side arrangement. This ski can also be called monoski since the person using the ski stands on a single gliding surface. The two ski bindings comprise each a toe portion and a heel portion. The toe and heel portions are each mounted on a distinct support, and the two supports for each ski binding are fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on the ski body member provided with the gliding surface.

United States Patent 1151 3,685,846 Schmid 1 Aug. 22, 1972 SK] FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Inventor: Hans Schmid, Domliacker 99,020 11/1961 Norway ..280/1 1.13 w

Schlieren, Zurich, Switzerland 22 Filed: Feb. 19, 1970 Primwy g j g r Assistant aminerton mi [21] Appl' 1264l Attorney-Littlepage, Qua ntance, Wray & Aisenberg [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT I Feb. 20, 1969 Switzerland ..2597/69 A ski of the kind in which a single ski body member formed with a gliding surface is provided with two ski [52] US. Cl. ..280/1 1.13 W bindings fixed to said body member in side by side ar- [51] III. Cl ..A63C 5/00 rangement This ki can also be called monoski ince Fleld of Search l 3, H, A the person using the stands on a ingle urface. The two ski bindings comprise each a toe portion [56] References cued I and a heel portion. The toe and heel portions are each UNITED STATES PATENTS mounted on a distinct support, and the two supports for each Skl binding are fixed one behmd the other in 3,154,312 10/1964 F "280/1113 w longitudinally spaced relation on the ski body member 2,392,098 1] 1 946 Phillppar ..280/ I2 H provided with the gliding f 1,330,644 2/1920 Matson ..280/12 H X 2,196,925 4/1940 Kairis ..280/] 1.13 W 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SKI This invention concerns a ski of the kind in which a single ski body member formed with a gliding surface is provided with two ski bindings fixed on said ski body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion. The ski to which the invention relates can also be called monoski when using the terminology customary in waterskiing, since the skier when using a ski according to the invention, stands on a single skid or runner member.

The usual difficulties which are to be dealt with when using conventional skis comprise the maintenance of an ideal body position which will vary according to speed and running situation, the displacement of body weight from one ski to the other and the command of the ski edges connected with such body displacement, the guidance of the skis, particularly their maintenance in parallel position, and finally the adaptation of the position of the skis and of the position of the body to the ground and the track to be followed.

These difficulties usually are gradually overcome by the skier with increasing ability, but a great amount of strength and concentration is needed which diminishes the pleasure of skiing and results in a retardation of the excursion on skis. When the skis are not maintained in exact parallelism, it cannot be avoided that one or the other ski not only moves exactly in longitudinal direction but will also skid laterally which will slow down the running speed.

When skiing over undulated ground, particularly when crossing the undulations not at right angles thereto, a considerable expenditure of force is required to keep the skis parallel to each other.

The novice in skiing will always have considerable difficulties in learning to keep the two skis in parallel position which allows skiing without fatigue.

A ski or monoski of the kind referred to above has become known which comprises a rigid supporting plate to which the ski bindings including toe and heel portions are screwed. Skiing with this known ski, however, has shown certain aspects which prejudice the running performance.

First the known monoski is substantially rigid in its middle section which carries the supporting plate of the ski binding, and this rigid section is followed in front SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a ski of the kind referred to in which the advantages of the monoski are conserved, but in which the mentioned drawbacks are avoided without any appreciably higher expenditure. Therefore, the invention resides in the novel construction of a monoski in which the components supporting the toe and heel portions of the ski binding are so formed that the ski body portion provided with the gliding surface practically does not present any rigid section.

The invention consists in a ski having a single ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings mounted on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and'a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for the toe portion, a support for the heel portion, said two supports being fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on said ski body.

In order to facilitate the action of the ski edges during running and to keep the width of the ski body portion in the order of magnitude of a conventional ski without having the sole edges of the ski-boot making contact with the track when laterally inclining the ski during running in a curve, it is convenient to provide the ski-boot supporting surface on the toe and heel portions of the binding at a distance above the ski body member corresponding substantially to the width of the ski.

The ski body member provided with the gliding surface may be formed by a conventional ski, i.e., having a width from 7 to 10 centimeters and a length of about 210 centimeters when the ski is destined to be used by a person of about centimeters height, though it may be convenient that the most ideal length of this ski is somewhat longer than that of a conventional ski. For a length of a conventional ski of 210 centimeters, the length of the ski according to the invention may be from 215 to 220 centimeters. These dimensions, however, are of secondary importance only and will depend largely to the personal habits of the skier.

It will be understood that the ski according to the invention is not suitable for stepping or walking, but it is destined particularly for running downhill. However, for moving overflat ground, the skier can use the conventional ski-poles, since the frictional resistance against gliding of the ski according to the invention is smaller than with a pair of conventional skis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Embodiments of the invention are represented by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ski according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section of the central portion of the ski in FIG. 1 along the line II-II.

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation of the middle portion of a ski of FIG. 1, a ski-boot being attached to the binding at the right side, as seen in the direction of movement of the ski.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show in a manner similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 a transverse section and a view in elevation of a modification of the ski according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation of a further modification showing how a conventional ski can be transformed into a ski according to the invention.

FIG. 1 represents a ski 10 consisting of a single ski body member forming the skid or runner 11 provided with a gliding surface and having approximately the shape of a conventional ski. The ski 10 has mounted thereon two bindings l2 and 13, disposed side by side. Each of the bindings 12 or 13 is provided with a jaw portion 14 and 16, respectively, and with a heel portion 15 and 17, respectively which, in the represented example are shown as being safety cheeks and automatic heel release devices. The two jaw portions 14 and 16 are fixed to a front support 18 and the two heel portions 15 and 17 are fixed to a rear support 19.

The binding supports 18 and 19 each comprise a carrier plate 20 and 21, respectively, situated in a same plane and forming the supporting surface of the sole of aski-boot30 (FIG. 3).

' The carrier plates 20 and 21 are supported by a web 22 or 23, respectively fixed to the respective carrier plate or formed integral therewith as a section of a double-T beam extending in a plane at right angles to the ski surface and parallel to its longitudinal axis. The lower flanges 24 and 25, respectively, of the double-T sections are secured to the ski body portion 11 by means of a pair of screws 26 and 27 (FIG.2) or 28, respectively (FIG.3).

The two supports 18,- 19 accordingly have the profile of a double-T of which the carrier plate 20 or 21 forms the larger flange. In the represented example the supports (FIG. 2) are assembled from semi-finished material available in commerce, i.e., from plates and profiles, for example by welding or rivetting; the supports also could be formed as integral molded parts, for example cast from a light-weight alloy.

It will be remarked that the elastic flexibility of the skibody portion 1 1 practically does not suffer any loss, since these supports do barely increase the proper rigidity of the sliding portion.

It results from FIG. 2 that the distance of the two car-.

rier plates 20 and 21 above the ski body portion 11 approximately corresponds to the width of the body portion 11, this width being 0.5 to 1 times the distance between the longitudinal center lines of the two bindings .12, 13. The fixing of the flanges 24, 25 of the supports 18, 19 can be effected by the intermediary of a layer of resiliently yielding rubber or foam rubber 29 of a thickness of a few millimeters.

In FIGS. 4 and there is shown a portion of the skid 1 1, the front carrier plate 20, the rear carrier plate 21, the jaw portions 14, 16 and the heel portion 17 of the left hand binding 13.

g In this example also a front and a rear support is provided, but the webs 22 and 23 of the example according to FIGS. 1 3 are replaced each by a pair of coiled springs 30 and 31. These springs are biased with the adjacent coils contacting each other. Accordingly the springs are practically rigid in response to axial compression, while they are relatively flexible. The use of such springsresults in the fact that even when the sole of the ski-boot attached to the binding would tend to increase the stiffness of the ski, the skid portion 11 practically remains unaffected by this effect and its degree of stiffness undergoes no change.

FIG. 6 represents a modification which forms a transitory stage which may be used by a person desiring sometimes to use two conventional skis for skiing and other times to use a single ski only.

As represented in FIG. 6, the ski-binding comprises the check portions 14, 16 and the heel portions 15, 17,

by means of which the ski-b00630 be attached at the front to the carrier plate 20 and at the rear to the carrier plate 21. The carrier plates 20, 21 are supported by the webs 22 and 23, and the flanges 24 and 25,1

The supports 18 and 19 are not directly secured to the skid 11'., but by means of rivets 35, 36 are mounted on a base plate 37 made of a resiliently flexible material. This material may be a synthetic plastics material versely to the longitudinal axis of the skid l1 The base plate37 is provided at its front end, approximately in the longitudinal centralplane of the supports 18 and 19, with an upwardly projecting portion 38 and.

at its rear end with an upwardly projecting portion 39. These projecting portions are shaped to correspond to the front and rear ends, respectively,-of a conventional ski-boot.

The base plate 37 in turn is clamped to the skid 11' by means of a ski binding havinga safety jaw 40 and an automatic heel engaging device'41, these means being S secured to the skid 11 in conventional manner.

Obviously, instead of the safety jaw 40 and the heel engaging member 41, any conventional ski binding may be secured to the skid, for example a binding having lateral sole engaging jaws and a heel engaging cable with a tensioning device.

The particular advantage of the modification according to FIG. 6 is that the attachment of the supports 18 and 19 on the ski is releasable, the attaching means f being the same which serve to attach the ski-boot on a conventional ski.

A skier thus has the possibility, with a single pair of skis, to choose whether he will ski with a sole ski or with a pair of skis. Also the supports 18 and 19 can be considered as an emergency means which enables an experienced skier, when a ski is broken, to continue a down hill run on a sole ski which would be easier than to use a substitute ski point which may be used only when the front portion of the ski is broken but not the middle portion adjacent to the binding.

It will be observed that the representation of the ski in FIG. 6 is not drawn exactly to scale. In reality, the

distance between the check portions 14, 16 and the heel attaching device 15, His exactly the same as the distance between the jaw 40 and the heel attaching device 41, this distance being determined by the size of the ski-boot 30. The representation out of true scale has only be chosen for the sake of clearness.

I claim:

1. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindingsfixed on said body member in side by side arrangem'ent,'each binding hav. ing a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a platform support for said toe 2. A ski according to claim 1, in which said two supports are each formed with a ski-boot supporting surface spaced above said ski body member.

3. A ski according to claim 1, in which said supports are fixed to the ski body member by means situated on a line extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the body member.

4. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for said toe portion, and a support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on said ski body member, both said supports comprising a double-T profile having a larger flange and a narrower flange, said toe portions being mounted on the larger flange of one of said supports and said heel portions being mounted on the larger flange of the other support, and the narrower flange of both said supports being secured to said ski body member.

5. A ski according to claim 4, in which a layer of resiliently yielding material is arranged between the ski body member and said narrower flanges of the toe and heel portion supports.

6. A ski according to claim 4, in which each of said supports is formed as a solid web body.

7. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, said toe portion supported on said body member by a platform support, said heel portion supported on said body member by a separate platform support, said supports being fixed on said body member one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation, the width of said ski body member corresponds to 0.5 to 1.0 times the distance between longitudinal center lines of said two ski bindings.

8. A ski according to claim 7, in which the distance between said ski-boot supporting surface of the supports and the ski body member corresponds approximately to the width of the ski body member.

9. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for said toe portion, and a support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed on an elastically flexible base plate, one support behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation, and said base plate being detachably clamped to the ski body member.

10. A ski according to claim 9, in which said baseplate is clamped to the ski body member by means of further ski binding components.

11. A ski binding according to claim 10, in which said baseplate is formed by a molded body of plastics material having its front and rear ends shaped to resemble the toe and heel portions, respectively of a ski-boot sole.

12. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding havin a toe rtion and a heel 'on w erein the ,impr% vemen?%omprises a supp t or sa1 toe portion, 

1. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a platform support for said toe portion, and a separate platform support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on said ski body member, and the platform supports extending laterally outward over and beyond longitudinal edges of the ski body member.
 2. A ski according to claim 1, in which said two supports are each formed with a ski-boot supporting surface spaced above said ski body member.
 3. A ski according to claim 1, in which said supports are fixed to the ski body member by means situated on a line extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the body member.
 4. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for said toe portion, and a support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on said ski body member, both said supports comprising a double-T profile having a larger flange and a narrower flange, said toe portions being mounted on the larger flange of one of said supports and said heel portions being mounted on the larger flange of the other support, and the narrower flange of both said supports being secured to said ski body member.
 5. A ski according to claim 4, in which a layer of resiliently yielding material is arranged between the ski body member and said narrower flanges of the toe and heel portion supports.
 6. A ski according to claim 4, in which each of said supports is formed as a solid web body.
 7. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, said toe portion supported on said body member by a platform support, said heel portion supported on said body member by a separate platform support, said supports being fixed on said body member one behinD the other in longitudinally spaced relation, the width of said ski body member corresponds to 0.5 to 1.0 times the distance between longitudinal center lines of said two ski bindings.
 8. A ski according to claim 7, in which the distance between said ski-boot supporting surface of the supports and the ski body member corresponds approximately to the width of the ski body member.
 9. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for said toe portion, and a support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed on an elastically flexible base plate, one support behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation, and said base plate being detachably clamped to the ski body member.
 10. A ski according to claim 9, in which said baseplate is clamped to the ski body member by means of further ski binding components.
 11. A ski binding according to claim 10, in which said baseplate is formed by a molded body of plastics material having its front and rear ends shaped to resemble the toe and heel portions, respectively of a ski-boot sole.
 12. A ski having a ski body member formed with a gliding surface, two ski bindings fixed on said body member in side by side arrangement, each binding having a toe portion and a heel portion, wherein the improvement comprises a support for said toe portion, and a support for said heel portion, said two supports being fixed one behind the other in longitudinally spaced relation on said ski body member, said two supports being fixed to the ski body member by means of pairs of biased coiled springs, each spring having its adjacent windings in contact with one another. 